Hair trimming device



Jan. 14, 1969 e. PAWLIKOWSKI HAIR TRIMMING DEVICE Filed Jan. 20, 1967FIG. I.

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR GEORGE PAWLIKOWSKI BY AT TOR NE YS.

United States Patent 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A comb having aplanar slot extending through the strip of the comb and into the teethto a line closely spaced from the free ends of the teeth. Slidabl-ydisposed in the slot is a razor blade which is biased towards the freeends of the teeth by spring means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present inventionrelates to a hair trimming device especially for home use.

SUMMARY A longitudinally extending comb comprising a longitudinallyextending strip from which a plurality of laterally directed parallelteeth extend is provided with a slot of substantially shorter extentthan the strip, which slot extends through the strip and through theteeth a substantial portion thereof and terminates only a short distancefrom the free ends of the teeth. The slot is proportioned to slidablyreceive a cutting blade, preferably a standard double edge razor blade,which, after disposition in the slot, is engaged by a pair of hairpinsprings which bias it toward the free ends of the teeth.

When it is desired to trim the hair, the portion of the comb includingthe blade is run through the hair and the blade cuts the hair withoutfear of cutting the skin or scalp by virtue of the blade being spacedfrom the free ends of the teeth. As the blade is moved into areas ofthicker hair, it will be forced away from the free ends of the teeth bythe thicker hair against the bias of the springs, to properly adjustitself at a proper height for trimming the thicker portion of the hair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of ahair trimming comb embodying the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top planview thereof; and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsin detail, a comb comprising a strip or rib 12, and a multiplicity ofteeth 14 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The comb may be made of any suitablecomb material such as tortoise, hard rubber, plastic or metal. As shownthe teeth 14 are divided into two sections 16 and 18, section 16 beingmade up of a plurality of relatively widely spaced relatively thickteeth and section 18 being made up of relatively closely spacedrelatively thin teeth. However, the comb could be provided with teeth ofone type and spacing without departing from the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 1, the leftmost tooth 20 and the rightmost tooth 22 areextra heavy continuations of the strip 12 and serve as end guards toprevent tooth breakage.

Extending through strip 12 and into a portion of the teeth 14 is aplanar slot 24 having an open end 26 at the upper end of the strip 12and having a closed end 28 3,421,213 Patented Jan. 14, 1969 closelyspaced from the free ends 30 of the teeth through which the slot 24extends. The free end 28 of slot 24 preferably terminates between about.01 inch and .25 inch from the free ends 30 of the teeth through whichit extends and most preferably terminates about .015 inch therefrom. Asis preferred, slot 24 is of substantially less longitudinal extent thanis strip 12, and most preferably, substantially less than one-half thecomb length. Moreover, as is preferred and shown, slot 24 is disposed onone side of the center of comb 10 so that the other side may be used asa conventional comb and also serves as a handle for the trimmer to bedescribed hereinafter.

Slidably disposed in slot 24 is a cutting blade 32 which, as here shown,is preferably a standard double-edge razor blade. The slot 24 isproportioned relative to the cutting blade 32 so that it is receivedtherewithin with little longitudinal clearance whereby to prevent theblade from canting when subjected to forces as will be describedhereinafter.

Secured to the rib 12 is a pair of hairpin springs 34 and 36 whichhairpin springs, as will be described in detail hereinafter, bias thecutting blade 32 towards the closed end 28 of the slot 24. As shown thehairpin spring 34 is connected to the strip 12 of comb 10 by having ahooked portion 38 thereof extend through a hole or aperture 40 in strip12 and thereafter having said hooked portion bent down on the oppositeside of the comb from that which the main portion of the spring 34 isdisposed. Preferably hooked portion 38 of spring 34 passes through thehole 40 with a little clearance whereby to permit pivotal movement ofthe spring 34. As may best be seen in FIG. 3, the hairpin spring 36 issimilarly connected to the strip 12, with a horizontal portion 42passing through a hole 44 in strip 12 with a slight clearance and thefree end 46 being bent down on the opposite side of the comb 10 from themain portion of the spring 36. The free end of spring 34 is providedwith a horizontally extending hooked portion 48 and the free end of thespring 36 is provided with a horizontally extending hooked portion 50(FIG. 3) both of which hooked portions are adapted to fit between theteeth of the comb and into the conventional slot 52 of the blade 32whereby to engage the blade and bias it at both ends downwardly towardsthe closed end 28 of the slot 24.

By utilizing the double hairpin spring biasing arrangement abovedescribed, biasing force is uniformly distributed along the length ofthe blade 32 whereby to prevent canting in use as will be described.Moreover, it will be noted that both springs 34 and 36 are detachablyconnected to the blade 32 whereby to permit the disengagement of thehooked ends 48 and 50 of springs 34 and 36, respectively, to permit theremoval of blade 32 and the replacement thereof with a new sharp likeblade when the initial blade is dulled from use.

When a user desires to trim his hair, he will grasp the comb 10 at theportion remote from the blade 32. As

shown herein that is section 16. He will run the portion of or short inthe area being trimmed, as for example in the area of the back of theneck, the relatively small amount of hair will be insufficient to forcethe blade 32 upwardly against the bias of springs 34 and 36.Accordingly, the blade will remain in the position shown in FIG. 1 andthe hair will be closely trimmed. However, it should be noted that theblade never moves downwardly through slot 24 sufficiently to actuallyengage the skin or scalp underlying the hair being trimmed as the bladeis maintained in spaced relationship therefrom by short distance ofteeth 18 between slot end 28 and teeth ends 30.

Further, when the blade portion is run through thicker sections of hairas, for example, through the hair on the top of the head, the largequantity of hair being passed through the teeth enclosing blade 32 willbe so great as to force the blade 32 upwardly in the slot away from theend 28 thereof in order to permit such a quantity of hair to passthrough the comb teeth section 18. Thus the blade will adjust itself inslot 24 so as not to trim the thick hair to the same height as thesparse hair and thereby give a normal appearing trim to the overallhead.

After trimming, the user may reverse his grip and safely hold the combin the portion ncluding the blade 32 so as to use the remainder of thecomb in the normal comb fashion. It will be obvious that there is nodanger stemming from holding the comb in the area of blade 32 as theblade is completely spaced from the outside and cannot engage the handof the user while being so held.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred form of thepresent invention and have suggested modifications therein, otherchanges and modifications may be made therein within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of thisinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hair trimming device including a comb having a longitudinallyextending strip and a plurality of teeth extending therefrom;

(a) a longitudinal slot in said strip extending downwardly through saidteeth and terminating close to 4 the free ends of said teeth; the lengthof said slot being less than one-half the length of said strip; (b) acutting blade disposed within said longitudinal slot for slidablemovement transversely thereof; and (c) a pair of spaced apart hairpinsprings with one end of each connected to said comb and the other end ofeach connected to said blade for yieldably biasing said blade toward thefree ends of said teeth during the hair trimming operation.

2. The device of claim 1, wheren said blade is a double I edge razorblade having a longitudinal slot therein, and said other ends of saidhairpin springs are detachably hooked through said blade slot atopposite ends thereof. 3. The device of claim 2, wherein said slot isentirely disposed on one side of the center line of said comb.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 879,569 2/ 1908 McDonald et a130-30 1,236,926 8/1917 Gore 30-30 1,247,908 11/1917 Van Dersal.1,866,475 7/1932 Loughmiller 3030 2,530,917 11/1950 Taylor 30302,530,918 11/1950 Taylor 3030 2,536,485 1/1951 Behr 30-30 MYRON C.KRUSE, Primary Examiner.

